


A Fateful Shoe

by mooseholmes



Category: X-Men (Movies), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: AU, M/M, Rollercoaster AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 11:54:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3119228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mooseholmes/pseuds/mooseholmes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where Erik gets hit by a shoe</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Fateful Shoe

                “Thank you sir, and here’s your change - $5.35. Enjoy your ice cream!”

                “Thanks,” Erik mumbled as he pocketed the change and moved aside to let the family behind him order. He grabbed a couple of napkins out of the dispenser and wrapped them around his chocolate-dipped cone, afraid the scorching heat would melt the thing all over his hands.

                He shuffled off, stopping occasionally to avoid running over an excited kid sprinting from one game to the other. He had thought that not many people would come out to the amusement park on what could be the hottest day that summer, but people are weird. No matter how hot it got, they insisted on walking/running in a giant circle for an entire day and waiting in an hour long line to ride a contraption that scared the pants off of you for 10 seconds. And had coincidentally been sitting outside. Exposed to the sun. In the 98 degree weather.

                Erik sighed and sat down on a bench, licking his ice cream which had indeed already started melting. It wasn’t like he honestly _wanted_ to be here. His friend Emma had given him the tickets she had won at a raffle, insisting she had “too weak of a stomach to handle all those rollercoasters” and besides, “what would a girl like her do at an amusement park on a Saturday when she could be sleeping”? It was an argument Erik had shot right back at her, but she’d ended up convincing her anyways.

                Damn her.

                He didn’t have a liking for rollercoasters either, but yet he’d managed to seat himself underneath the path of a popular one, _The Death Defier_. The entrance itself was decked out for an all-year Halloween theme, with the creepy echoing laugh, the horrified screams, the barely-lit walkway, and of course, the constant rumbling of the rollercoaster itself, but Erik thought that was more consequential. He sighed again and shook his head slightly, leaning back into the bench as he bit into his cone and planned out the rest of his trip.

                It was only 1 PM, he could probably catch a couple of shows before the park closed at 9. There was the one show that he’d really wanted to watch, something about sharks and boats. Erik fished out the park map and spread it across his lap, glaring at a kid who had accidentally splashed a few drops of soda on it. Ah yes, it was a pirate-themed show, he’d always had an affinity towards pirates, he would definitely like that one. There was also a go-cart ride near it, he could check that out as long as there wasn’t too long of a line.

                He was debating on whether to stop by the souvenir shop on the way out when it hit him.

                Literally hit him.

                A shoe, Erik saw. A brown shoe. A brown shoe with light-brown shoelaces that had somehow managed to hit him toe-first on the head. It had been too sharp of a hit for anyone on the ground to have thrown it, so some godforsaken idiot who’s going to wish he had never been born lost his goddamn shoe on the rollercoaster. And it hurt! It hurt like hell!

                Erik fumed as he bent down to retrieve the shoe, the remnants of his cone having been liberated from his hand and made acquainted with the ground from the shock of the hit. He could feel his face going red as he realized that some people were quietly laughing at him as he tried to see whether the rollercoaster had finished or not. He glared at them, keeping his best angry face on as they backed away slowly and continued about their business. Erik saw a mother give him a glance and usher her child in the opposite direction, and he smirked. Good. Let them be scared. The little son of a gun who couldn’t tie his shoe properly better take a lesson from them and beg for his goddamned shoe back. He stood up gingerly, making sure he wouldn’t topple over when confronting the asshat. The dickbag was going to learn the entirety of kindergarten again, oh yes Erik would definitely make sure of that, just as soon as he could lay his hands on the garden gnome and shove the shoe down his stupid little throat, he couldn’t wait to wring the crumb’s tiny little neck and –

                “Hey, is that my shoe?”

                Erik looked up, eyes fuming. Here came the owner of the shoe: a man of about 24 with perfectly wavy chestnut brown hair that framed his face, wearing a tacky pink shirt and ridiculously khaki shorts, and of course, one shoe. He had an almost-stereotypical British accent, and Erik almost forgot to be mad and in pain when he saw how ridiculously perfect his teeth were when he smiled. Damn.

                But then his head throbbed and everything shifted back into place.

                “Yeah, it is. How the hell did it even get here, you turd?” he said angrily.

                “Whoa there, take it easy my friend,” the man said, the corner of his mouth lifting into a smile. “It seems my sister Raven neglected to mention that my shoelace had come undone. That is, before she went racing off to God knows where with her boyfriend Hank. It seems we’re both alone then, yeah?”

                There it was again, the infuriating smile that Erik was starting to find irresistible. Strange, considering they’d only just met, but it was doing a good job at easing the pain of the goddamn lump on his head. He shook his head and sighed, thrusting the shoe towards him.

                “Well here’s your goddamn shoe back. Learn to tie your shoes, okay? You might not get lucky next time,” Erik said and started to walk away. It was almost time for the pirate show to start, and he’d have to run over there if he was going to find a decent seat –

                “I’m Charles, by the way,” the man said. “Charles Xavier.”

                Erik turned around to see a hand extended towards him, the other occupied with shoving the shoe onto his foot. He looked up, and they stared at each other for a moment, Erik noticing for the first time how deeply blue and brilliant the other man’s eyes were. They reminded him of the ocean and the sky and everything in between, and Erik almost didn’t hear his name. Gears turned inside his head, and he took the extended hand.

                “Erik. Erik Lehnsherr. Tell me, you wouldn’t happen to like pirates, would you?”


End file.
